Recent content by willf

I had a chance to do some reading of the various book last night. It is now clear that wizards tried to accomplish two jobs with the LOE rules: (i) describe the straight lines of projectiles such as arrows; and (ii) describe the spread of waves, such as sound and force waves, which do not go in...

Thraug -- thanks for the rules quote. Unfortunately, that is precisely the passage that is ambiguous. It is ambiguous because (i) it does not use the word straight, which would have been clear; (ii) in the PHB and the DMB, the same passage also refers to tracing a "path", and the word "path" is...

So, this is interesting. You are interpreting LOE in terms of projectiles, whereas I am interpreting LOE in terms of area bursts. D&D uses the same term to explain both phenomena. It doesn't make sense for arrows to go around corners, but it also doesn't make sense for sound waves or explosions...

Thanks for your opinions. I had thought the intention was pretty clear to allow close burst to reach around corners, and the wording of the RAW also allows close burst to reach around corners, so now it is interesting to hear that some readers have read it differently. I suppose it is...

I believe LOS and LOE are quite different. LOE does not require LOS, so a caster would have LOE around the corner. This is what allows healing word to be applied around a corner and spirit companions to appear in the next room (if the door is opened). The PHB and DMB both say that the key for...

I agree that a different keyword would have been preferable. However, I believe that close bursts operate on line of effect rather than line of sight, so indeed you can heal the ally around the corner. To make things even more double negative, some close bursts have the following target...

I agree completely. Well-detailed outlines, rather than reading off a script. Except for key sentences or particular sections. The fascinating thing is, all that "spontaneous" stuff we love and appreciate on TV and the radio, is highly scripted. Oops. I forgot to mention that I would...

I would certainly give it a shot as well. I love listening to D&D podcasts on the way to and from work. I agree completely with Crothian's recommendations, and I add that you should write it out before taping it. What emerges from unscripted dialogue is almost never interesting, unless the...

Yes, I agree with you that the way the power is intended to work, this would not be a problem. You are right, because a large party would have to be spread out, and the other party members would not be able to rest and heal or recharge their encounter powers. And, if it worked out that way, I...

That helps, thanks for looking it up and putting it here. It helps limit the power somewhat, but, unfortunately, not enough. It is indeed a bad location for the rule, because, in the section entitled "Sustained durations", p. 278, which is highlighted with a colored background, is the...

Hi Spasheridan -- I've missed that rule. It would help if it were true. In other forum discussions of this power, there has not been general agreement about the 5 minute duration limit. Could you point me to the text that makes that rule, because it would be good to know about it. Thanks

It's worse than this. A smart cleric casts Consecrated Ground first thing on waking in the morning, and then uses a minor action every 6 seconds to sustain it. He or she never takes a short rest, so consecrated ground lasts the whole day. As a result, every encounter, not just 1 per day, is an...

Well, I can't exactly answer your question, because I've only read (but not played the adventure). But my number one opinion after reading that adventure is, man, Mearls can design an encounter. From the reading, there is one good encounter after another. The above posts seem to echo that sentiment.

Rechan, you were correct in your first comment, that 100 participants can be more than sufficient. It is truly remarkable, but even 30 participants can give you results that have less than a .01 percent chance of being produced when there were no actual differences. Unfortunately, the reporters...

Like many others on this thread, my players level every 3+ sessions of 2-3 encounters per session, or about once per month. I tend to give moderately high XP quests, to speed it up a little. We use XP, and they really like the reward value, the precise record of progress to date, and the...